Starmer 'offered Rayner Cabinet return' as embattled PM fights to stave off leadership challenge
Former Deputy PM could land a new front bench role after local elections
Sir Keir Starmer has allegedly asked former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to come back to Labour’s frontbenches in an apparent bid to stave off a leadership challenge.
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The Prime Minister reportedly made the offer to the former cabinet minister in a private meeting earlier this month, as speculation mounts that he will perform a Cabinet reshuffle after the elections in May.
The meeting took place during a visit to a school in Greater Manchester on April 14, where the pair were joined by Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, according to the Telegraph.
It came eight months after Rayner resigned over an investigation into whether she underpaid stamp duty on her flat.
Now, she could challenge for the leadership in just a matter of weeks - after a turbulent fortnight for Starmer amid the Mandelson vetting scandal.
The Prime Minister managed to avoid a sleaze probe after MPs voted on Tuesday for the PM not to face a Privileges Committee inquiry into whether he misled parliament.
Read more: Labour's united front: Starmer, Rayner and Burnham come together at breakfast club
But pressure remains as 15 Labour backbenchers defied the Prime Minister’s plea and voted in favour of the Tory-led motion.
However, Ms Rayner backed the PM despite fears she would go against his orders.
But MPs are said to be openly discussing possible pacts between Rayner and Burnham, as well as Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, the Telegraph reports.
Rayner held another secret meeting with Burnham four days after meeting Starmer, according to the newspaper, with sources claiming the Manchester mayor proposed a Blair-Brown-style leadership pact.
Rayner is said to be hopeful HMRC’s investigation into her tax affairs could wrap up as early as this week and set up her return to the frontbenches.
She could land a new ministerial role in a reshuffle as early as next Saturday following the local election results.
Polling suggests Labour looks on course to suffer humiliating losses across various seats to the Greens and Reform.
One ally told The Telegraph she remains uncertain about whether she really does want to come back to the forefront of Labour politics amid the Lord Mandelson vetting scandal as Downing Street prepares to hand over more files on the disgraced peer in the coming weeks.
Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador last year because of his links to Epstein, after featuring in documents released by the US Department of Justice related to the paedophile financier.
Last month, Ms Rayner warned Labour was “running out of time” under Starmer and branded his migration reforms “un-British” in her strongest attack on the Prime Minister to date.
The Labour MP had until then remained relatively quiet since stepping down from the Cabinet before vowing to become more vocal in her attacks.
“As a party and a movement, we cannot hide. We cannot just go through the motions in the face of decline,” she said during an event held by Mainstream, a left-wing think tank.
Rayner added: "There’s no safe ground for us, and we’re running out of time. The change that people wanted so desperately to see needs to be seen."
She is still largely seen as a potential successor to Sir Keir - whose popularity continues to plunge amid record-low approval ratings.
Starmer has previously said he “would like to have Angela back at the right point" and has "always been clear she has a future role to play" after she resigned from Government.
He previously came under fire from within his own party amid the fallout from the decision to block Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing in a by-election.
In the House of Commons today, the PM faced backlash from rebel MPs, one of whom warned Downing Street is becoming “out of touch and disconnected from the public mood”.
Emma Lewell, of South Shields, was among the MPs to disobey orders to reject the motion and argued the Government’s handling of the privileges motion suggests to the public there is something to hide.
LBC has approached Rayner's team and No 10 for comment.